#thomas mcdonough

[preblesboys]

I was looking for pictures of Thomas Macdonough that I never seen before. If this really is at the museum of Plattsburgh then I have to look at it with my own two eyes in person!

[preblesboys]

Being a Virginian doesn’t help Lewis either.

It’s even funnier knowing Thomas Macdonough, William Bainbridge’s and James Biddle were Federalists according to their biographies and Isaac Hull’s.

I still don’t know what side of the aisle Lewis Warrington was because he was basically James Barron’s protégé who would be a Jacksonian. Both came from the same region and in his early years as a midshipman, Warrington would transfer to whatever ship Barron was on. Even when he got older, Lewis would 9/10 be the one replacing Barron as commander of the Gosport (Norfolk) naval yard and later the board of navy commissioners every time. And yet somehow, Warrington was on good terms and even friends with James Biddle who rarely liked ANYBODY.

Another thing about Lewis Warrington is as far as I know, didn’t say anything about the Barron-Decatur duel which was splitting the navy into factions. Having ties to both men certainly made it difficult but because he was so high on the captain list when it happened and therefore influential, there’s a good possibility that not speaking about it helped the navy heal. Warrington was too behind the scenes/ private to really know what his thoughts and views were.

[preblesboys]

”Climb aboard loser, we’re shipping out!”

Trust me, this makes sense so roll with it. But I admit I did Thomas Macdonough dirty on this. If you followed me long enough then you know I always call William Bainbridge and James Biddle “mean girls”.

[preblesboys]

It just cracks me up in a bad way that Thomas Macdonough often saw Stephen Decatur in Washington. Had he had known when the duel was taking place, he definitely could have prevented it.

Not sure if I did but I thought I read somewhere that Macdonough even saw Decatur the morning of or even the day before. Now this is going to bother me if I can’t back this up.

But to be fair, many of Decatur’s brother officers were consulted on the matter; I just think Macdonough was the last who was able to put an end to it.

[preblesboys]

Kind of the only fun facts I have of Thomas McDonough’s career.

I want to write posts about Thomas McDonough; I really do. But he doesn’t leave much for me to say. Note worth noting I remember reading in multiple biographies that mention the Barron/ Decatur duel is how Decatur ran into McDonough the day before or around the time but gave no hint of what was transpiring. After Stephen Decatur’s death, Thomas McDonough lamented had he known that a duel was happening, he would have intervened.

Then when Charles Stewart was commodore of the Mediterranean squadron, McDonough was his second in command. Blah, blah, blah. Stewart had business to attend to so sailed away leaving McDonough in charge. A court martial was happening for a marine on McDonough’s ship but the captains on court complained it was too hot on the ship. They asked McDonough if they could move the court martial to a hotel where it was cooler which McDonough caved and agreed to.

Charles Stewart came back and was furious at the situation because the verdict of the court martial for the marine was illegal. The hearing didn’t take place on U.S sovereign ground (McDonough’s ship), therefore the marine was acquitted. Stewart also had the entire court arrested and sent back to the States and called for replacements for all the captains sailing as passengers.

So um, intelligent? Yes in the profession. But Charles Stewart thought Thomas McDonough was dumb or “weak in the head”.